Remily holds onto edge in Aberdeen council race

June 13, 2012|by Jeff Bahr, jbahr@aberdeennews.com

The incumbent, Jim Kraft, picked up one vote in the recount. But Remily still won, by a 409 to 408 margin, the race to represent northeast Aberdeen on the City Council. Before the recount, Remily's advantage was 409 to 407.

Still, Remily said he didn't feel much different than he had the day before. "I'm still a little reluctant to claim victory," Remily said. Kraft has not yet conceded.

Kraft, who was represented on the recount board by his wife, Rose, might contest the outcome. The Krafts said they know a woman who signed Kraft's petition to run for office who was inadvertently assigned to Precinct 10. The woman, who voted by absentee ballot, actually belongs in Precinct 4. Because Precinct 10 is not in the northeast district, she was not able to vote for Kraft.

If he does contest the outcome, Kraft will need the help of a lawyer.

"Money is the biggest factor," Kraft said. "After the campaign, I'm pretty short on that."

County auditor Maxine Fischer believes Kraft has five days to file an appeal.

The recount lasted about an hour and a half Wednesday. One of the members of the recount board, attorney Gregg Magera, was appointed by city finance officer Karl Alberts. The other two members of the board were Rose Kraft, who teaches at Roncalli, and Loren Weers, who was Remily's representative. Weers is retired from BNSF Railway.

From sealed metal cans, Fischer retrieved the ballots from Precincts 2, 4 and 7, which comprise the northeast district. The board spent much of the time making sure each ballot carried a red stamp made by precinct officials on June 5. The group found one ballot that did not bear a stamp, but decided to count it anyway. The ballots were sent through the counting machine by deputy auditor Julia Grenz.

Kraft picked up a vote in Precinct 7, to give the incumbent a 214-209 advantage in that precinct. Fischer said the discrepancy may have happened because two ballots stuck together when being counted on Election Night. To make sure Wednesday, the Precinct 7 ballots were counted twice in the voting machine.